Strasbourg Arrival 9/24/2025

Getting to Strasbourg from Berlin is a long train ride — about six hours. Train food sucks, but I did manage a small sandwich on board and a couple of lovely “Spatten Oktoberfest” beers.

After I checked into my Airbnb, it was time to hunt for food. I ended up at a place called Au Brasseur, and by this point I was feeling hangry. I sat at the bar top and managed to get the bartender to speak English with me. I let him know I wanted food, and he told me I’d need to talk to a server about that.

Probably just my hanger, but I didn’t feel like he was very friendly toward me. I got frustrated. I tried communicating with ChatGPT (not much help in the moment), and eventually figured out I needed to move to a table. I didn’t even bother settling up at the bar; I just grabbed my beer and moved myself.

Eventually, I used my words and got a server’s attention. He was friendly, took great care of me, and I appreciated that because I was feeling a bit distressed. I ordered a second beer and the classic tarte flambée — the one with lardons and funky cheese. Maybe there were some mushrooms on it too; I don’t remember. I ate the whole thing.

ChatGPT tells me it was at least 1,000 calories. It was also the most unsatisfying thousand calories — I still felt hungry. I worked my way through their beer list, and the one I enjoyed most was the “Old Brown.”

I made my way back to my Airbnb feeling sad, defeated, and still hungry. I ate some biscotti I had brought while in Berlin and went to bed early. At least I got a solid eight hours of sleep.